Why and how should WE support soldiers upon their return to our community?

author : Simona Sharoni topic : Iraq occupation

by Simona Sharoni

Following the publication of my article "To End the War, Listen to Soldiers' Stories," which is reprinted here, I was invited to mark the second anniversary of the war in Iraq in Fayetteville, NC. Fayetteville is the closest community to Fort Bragg, the largest military base in the United States. Fayetteville has earned the nicknames of Fatalville and Fayettenam. Unusual and not-sounusual features of the town include gross income inequalities, an extraordinarily high incidence of venereal disease, miles and miles of strip malls, and a history of racial violence. I developed a particular interest in Fort Bragg in 2002 after four soldiers at the base -- three of them back from deployment in Afghanistan -- killed their wives.

Against this backdrop, it is quite significant that over 4000 people marched and rallied in Fayetteville on March 19, 2005. This was the largest anti-war demonstration in Fayetteville's history, and signifies a historic turning point for the anti-war movement, when military families, veterans and soldiers take the lead in calling for an end to the Occupation in Iraq. While the rally and march attracted a small, though loud contingent of counter-protesters, ordinary residents in town were overwhelmingly receptive and supportive. War had touched the lives of Fayetteville's residents in multiple ways long before the most recent US invasion of Iraq, causing many of them to question its inevitability and permanence.

As Lou Plummer who is a member of Military Families Speak Out and one of the organizers of the gathering concluded last week, "what happened in Fayetteville on the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq should end forever the notion that the military community and the peace movement are destined to be at odds with one another."

Here in the South Sound, neighboring Fort Lewis, one of the nation's largest military bases, we have been working on several initiatives designed to connect with and to support returning veterans and their families. A special emphasis will be placed on initiatives involving veterans working with other veterans using peer support and empowerment, self-help models. We hope to use this opportunity to bring together people regardless of their political position on the war.

For more information, please go to: http://www.verts4vets.us or email us at: wa@vets4vets.us

Simona Sharoni is a local coordinator of Vets4Vets. She served in the Israeli military and has been researching, writing, and teaching about militarization and its effects for the past two decades. Her work can be found at http://www.oly-wa.us/simona